War Dance (2007)

85% of critics liked it
(48 reviews)
91% of users liked it
(2,700 ratings)

Since the 1980s, Uganda has been in a state of civil war, with the nation's leadership violently contested by a revolutionary force known as the Lord's Resistance Army (or L.R.A.). The fighting is fiercest in the North of Uganda, and there the L.R.A. recruit many of their soldiers by abducting… More Since the 1980s, Uganda has been in a state of civil war, with the nation's leadership violently contested by a revolutionary force known as the Lord's Resistance Army (or L.R.A.). The fighting is fiercest in the North of Uganda, and there the L.R.A. recruit many of their soldiers by abducting children from refugee camps and homes in the poverty-stricken villages, where electricity and running water are still luxuries known only to a few. However, in the village of Patongo, located deep in Uganda's war zone, a group of students (many of whom escaped from the clutches of the L.R.A.) struggles to rise above the violence and desperation that surrounds them. Each year, a student music festival is held in Kampala, Uganda's capitol city, in which children from around the country compete for prizes in performing traditional music and dance. When the students of the Patongo Primary School are invited to compete for the first time, the children are both thrilled at their opportunity and determined to prove that in a place of violence and want, creativity and talent can still take root. War Dance is a documentary about the Patongo Primary School's long journey to the Kampala Music Festival and the experiences, both good and bad, which informed them. War Dance received its world premiere at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 45 min.
Directed By: Sean Fine, Andrea Nix
Genres: Documentary, Drama, Special Interest

In Theaters: Nov 9, 2007 Wide
On DVD: Apr 15, 2008
Studio: ThinkFilm

Critic Reviews

Jonathan F. Richards, Film.com
It is wonderful to watch this joyous slice of the cultural lives of these victimized, traumatized children struggling to survive and build a better life in a desperately troubled part of the world.
Jennie Punter, Globe and Mail
This film offers a child's perspective on the ravages and complexity of war and is also a convincing testament to the healing power of creative expression.
Philip Marchand, Toronto Star
'The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places,' Hemingway wrote in A Farewell to Arms. That statement might stand as the summation of this documentary, which celebrates the strength of winsome, broken children.
Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News
The perfect antidote to compassion fatigue.
Rachel Howard, San Francisco Chronicle
The horror and heartwarming [is] equally compounded.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe
War/Dance is two documentaries struggling uneasily against each other. The one that wins -- the only one that matters, really -- is a devastatingly emotional saga about Ugandan children of war reclaiming their lives.
Joly Herman, Common Sense Media
Riveting story of pain and beauty in Uganda.
Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile
This wonderful doco is heartbreaking and heartwarming by turns
Bill Gibron, PopMatters
War/Dance suggests that talent can overcome even the greatest of tragedies. All one has to do is receive vindication for their attempts, and a whole new outlook blossoms
Kam Williams, Sly Fox
Besides breathtaking cinematography, undulating rhythms, enchanting choreography and soul-piercing refrains, this uplifting documentary is worthwhile as an affirmation of the human potential to be reborn even in the midst of dire circumstances.
Kam Williams, NewsBlaze
An emotionally-engaging testament to the indomitability of the human spirit even in the midst of the most dire of circumstances.
Larry Ratliff, San Antonio Express-News
We celebrate joy rising from the ashes of tragedy.
Robert W. Butler, Kansas City Star
This is powerful stuff that reasserts both the evil and the good in human hearts.
Karina Montgomery, Cinerina
A truly beautiful tribute to the redemptive powers of art, music, and dance, and the insidious destructiveness that trickles down in war to the most innocent of victims. Please see it.
Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion
The film's artsy surface diminishes its impact [but] tells a story that needs to be told repeatedly.